Spring Off-Season Motivation For Our Players

The off-season is always a roller coaster for us in terms of player motivation, engagement, and effort. We have really good kids who usually give us everything we ask of them, but it’s harder to get them going in April and May with the season so far behind and when we don’t have a game to prepare for.

As much as we try to explain the importance going hard at this point in the off-season and the growth that they can gain from paying attention to details, we often have to search for some added motivation.

Every Wednesday, we have a leadership day where we take 20 minutes and talk about leadership and do character and team building activities. This is a video that I like to show my guys when I see them begin to get bored with the skills and drills we do that focus on their fundamentals. A little perspective and added motivation is always great to get them going and to provide importance and relevance to what we do.

This is a clip from NBA TV’s NBA Open Court, where NBA Hall of Famers are talking about the importance of teaching and learning the fundamentals of the game and how mastering the fundamentals is a difference maker between being good and being great. They use Tracy McGrady, Michael Jordan, and Larry Bird as examples. As good a player that Tracy McGrady was, and for as much talent as he had, he was much maligned for never being able to get out of the 1st round of the playoffs.

The guys mentioned that college, and more importantly mastering the fundamentals of the game, is something that might have held him back. The guys gave a lot of the credit of Michael Jordan’s success to the fundamentals and the great teaching of Dean Smith and Phil Jackson in Jordan’s game. Kenny Smith said that Jordan was the most fundamentally gifted athlete there ever was in the league, and that him being so fundamentally sound helped separate him from other great athletes at his position and in the game.

Isaiah Thomas talked about how Bird’s flawless fundamental setup gave him more time when he got the ball in his hands. That fundamental know-how allows them to slow the game down and allowed them to get more out of their natural talent.

As coaches at all levels, we have to teach to mastery the fundamentals of the game. It will help accentuate the natural talents of our athletes, raising the ceiling of their potential immensely. It is good practice to communicate this importance to our players as well so that they understand the ‘why’ behind us going so hard every day and how consistent effort and attention to the details will help them reach their goals in basketball and in life.

Follow Coach Reggie Bibb on Twitter!!!

Coach Reggie Bibb is a former college basketball player who has coached at the college, high school, junior high school and AAU levels. He started out as an assistant coach at Seminole State College where he helped head coach Tom Mills earn two conference top two finishes in three years. In two out of his three seasons in Seminole, the Seminole State Trojans won at least 20 games, including one regular season conference championship and another trip to the conference tournament championship game.

Reggie has since coached at the junior high and high school levels, and even spent a year as an assistant principal.

His strengths are in player development, building team culture and chemistry, and building offensive and defensive systems that accentuate his players’ abilities and that help his players utilize what they do best to allow them to have individual and contribute to team success. He also is a great communicator and great at building relationships with his players, parents, and administration.

Reggie currently lives in Lavon, TX, just outside of Dallas, with his wife, Alyssa, and his three daughters: Alexa, London-Mila, and Zoe.

“I hope that I can bring you all content that can help you build your own personal philosophy as a person and as a coach, content that will help you reach and grow your players, and content that will help you put your team in position to be successful through effective strategies, systems, and quick hitters.”

Twitter: @Rhbibb
Instagram: Bibbr
Facebook: A Coach’s Diary